Additional Inverter for Residential Refrigerator

[oldgrape]

Howdy All,

I'm replacing my Norcold with a 22 cu ft residential Whirlpool Side By Side refrigerator. I currently have a 2000 watt pure sine inverter that runs parts of my coach when not connected to shore or generator. Should I consider adding a second pure sine inverter (600 watt or so) just for the fridge? Don't boondock but do spend the night occasionally at rest stops during our trips. If it is recommended what is a recommended inverter?

[tbutler]

We have a Whirlpool 21.7 cu ft residential refrigerator in our coach.  I just checked the data that I can find on our model, ED2GVE, the information I have puts it usage at about 400 Watts maximum.  That would be about 20% of your inverter capacity.  We replaced our 2500 W inverter when it began to fail.  In preparation for the residential refrigerator we put in a 3000 W sine wave inverter.  I can't say that it was absolutely necessary.  I made the assumption that the designers of our coach had figured the size of the inverter to meet the needs of the installed components and usual appliances that might be used in the coach. Adding an additional large load might require additional capacity from the inverter.  Consider then that you are removing the load of the Norcold.  I looked for specifications on the energy usage of the Norcold 1200 and didn't find any information.  Changing from the Norcold to the Whirlpool may be a wash, no net change in maximum wattage. 

I can say that we are extremely happy with the change-over.  We installed the Whirlpool in 2011 and it has performed flawlessly for five years of hard use.  We are on the road for about six months each summer and the refrigerator sits idle all winter.  We did not install additional house batteries, still have the 4 x 6V set-up.  This could be an indication that there really wasn't that much difference in the energy use of the Whirlpool refrigerator.  I did a write-up on our installation and the subsequent discussion may provide more useful information.

[kaypsmith]

Quote

 

Check the label inside the door of the Whirlpool unit for amp draw, all refrigerators are not the same, even amongst the same brand. Multiply the amperage by 120, then I always add fifty percent for overhead, ie., 6 amps times 120 = 720 + 50% (360) =1080, note this is only an example, some fridges require more, most of the newer ones reguire less. If yours requires less, and you can limit the use of other devices while the fridge is on the inverter, you can probably get by with only 2000 watts just fine, but the key is to limit usage of other appliances at the same time. If it were mine, that is the way I would go for now, then plan to upgrade the 2000 with a 3000 at some later time. 

[jleamont]

Oldgrape, we run ours on the original modified sine wave 2000 watt with no problems what so ever. When it goes we will upgrade to probably a 2500 watt Pure sine wave, no need to at this point in time. We only use the inverter to charge cell phones while driving and run the refrigerator, anything else we use the generator. We have boondocked overnight often with this configuration and no issues.

I have no idea what the draw is on it, I called GE they were no help on the phone, so I bought it, ran an extension cord to the box, plugged it in and let it cool and run for a few hours, I told Home Depot if it didn't work I would call them for a return. It worked and that was almost two years ago.

[jbell]

It's my understanding you multiply the AC amps by 10 to get the DC amps, thus a 6 amp AC draw would be equal to a 60 amp DC draw.

[oldgrape]

Howdy All. Thanks for the great information. I will take the advice of "wait and see" if it handles it or not. We basically do about the same as jleamont  stated that they do.